#97 New Restaurants: Raku

By new restuarants I don't mean restaurants that have just opened, I mean restaurants that I've never been to before. I tend to go back to the same restaurants that I like rather than branching out and trying new things - and since I live in Bethesda, a city that has more restaurants per square mile than any other city in the U.S., it makes no sense for me not to try something new now and then!

So for my Day Zero Project, #97 is to try 10 restaurants I've never been to before in my city. I have plenty to choose from, but the first one ended up being chosen for me when I went out to lunch over the weekend with my wonderful Aunt! She wanted to go back to a place she'd been to before, and liked, Raku.

Located in the heart of downtown "new" Bethesda, I've walked by this restaurant many times but never ventured in. Maybe it's the outlandish name. Maybe it's the fact that I get distracted by the Barnes & Noble next to it. Maybe it's that Raku's speciality is sushi and I don't eat fish, much less raw fish.

Well I can't tell you what their sushi is like and neither can my Aunt because we didn't get any. But I'm glad that we went in. The decor is Asian inspired and simple, the seating for tables of two is a little tight but we didn't mind, and the food is tasty. And some things are just amusing, if you get pleasure out of simple things like me, such as the tiny tea pot filled with soy sauce. I thought it was cute.

We both ordered soups, although the first thing that comes is a salad. Simple lettuce and carrot shavings with a tangy ginger dressing that packed a flavorful punch, it was a nice way to start the meal.

My Aunt got Tofu Coconut Red Curry Soup with Wheat noodles:

which, if you can't tell from the color, has got some spice to it! Way too spicy for me, unfortunately. I did try a bite and it was incredibly flavorful and delicious, but it set the top of my mouth and throat to a slow burn. I'm a pretty big wuss when it comes to spicy things though, and she had no problem with it at all.

I got the Chicken Tokyo Dashi Broth soup with egg noodles:

If I remember correctly from listening to Chef Hubby talk about his day working in the kitchen, Dashi broth is a kind of broth made from seaweed. Very nutritious! Sadly not as flavorful as the curry soup, but still pretty tasty. That colorful tangle on top were dried noodles which gave it a nice little crunch.

One thing of note: These are some very large soup portions. My Aunt and I both took home at least half of our meals because we were way too full to eat all of it, so not the best choice if you're planning on walking around afterwards! However, it was a nice light lunch, very delicious, and I definitely want to go back!

I saw other customers eating their food out of these decorated, segmented boxes and I want to try to order one of those!

#70 AFI's Top 100 Movie List - #35 It Happened One Night

I'm starting to thank my lucky stars that I chose to watch the AFI's Top 100 Movie List instead of all the Oscar Best Picture winners, because when I sat down to watch this gem with Katieschmatie she seemed a little more jaded than usual about our movie watching, and I think that so far her experiences have not been as pleasant as all of mine.

K: It better be good.
Me: It's from 1934.
K: It's going to be awful.

Funny enough, I found out from reading the Wikipedia Page that the actors thought the same thing, and yet it's number 35 on the AFI's list! No one wanted to play the leads in this movie. Clark Gable & Claudette Colbert finally agreed to do so, very reluctantly. But, despite their (and Katieschmatie's) expectations, it was a fantastic movie. It was the first movie to ever sweep the "Big Five" in the Academy Awards - Best Picture, Director, Writing, Actor and Actress!

Based on the short story Night Bus by Samual Hopkins Adams, It Happened One Night is full of witticisms, chivalry, humility, comedy, romance and stupidity. It begins with the feisty Ellie Andrews (my favorite classic movie female character so far) on a hunger strike because her uber-wealthy father managed to annul her recent and unconsummated marriage to a man he disapproves of, King Westley. I'm sad to say that we were about 2/3 of the way into the movie before I realized that King was his first name and not his title. I thought it was more exciting when he was royalty. Finding that her hunger strike has no effect on her over protective father, Ellie manages to shove her way out of her bedroom, elude the crew, dive overboard and swim to land.

This prompts her father to send the immediate telegram to the police: "Daughter escaped again."

I love this girl. Now, I'm not saying that she doesn't have the usual classic-movie-female-syndrome. She is absolutely tempermental, stupid, bull-headed, rushing into danger, and rather helpless in many ways until Clark Gable's character Peter Warren takes her under his wing, but for once there's a good reason behind her behavior! It's not because she's a woman, it's because her father raised her to be a rich, spoiled, good-for-nothing brat! Clark Gable, as Peter, makes it quite clear that he thinks she's a waste of space, but that it's her father's fault and so he doesn't completely blame her - and in fact, by the end of the movie, has found quite a few redeeming qualities about her.

This movie also broke barriers in other ways - starting a new trend where men didn't wear undershirts for instance, after Clark Gable strips down in the hotel room and is wearing nothing under his button-down shirt. Katie and I were also surprised that the movie showed Ellie undressing on camera, and went so far as to show her in her slip once! What really shook Claudette Colbert's feminine sensibilities, however, was the hitch-hiking scene. At first she refused to do it, considering it unladylike, but she didn't approve of the body double's performance (or maybe just her limbs) and so ended up showing a little leg herself!

Katie and I discussed it, we think this might have been the movie to first document this, now popular, move. I certainly haven't found anything to lead me to think otherwise - so if you know of an earlier film or tv show with this in it, let me know! Right now I'm going to give It Happened One Night the credit for this risque show.

I found a lot to laugh at, all throughout the movie, and I thought it very well done. The usual mix-up of motives, lack of communication and general stupidity of the characters at the end of the movie didn't bother me like it does in modern movies. For some reason, it made more sense that the characters ended up in their mixed-up situation, their motives were honest rather than being bred from a well of general idiocy. I didn't groan and wait anxiously for the mishap to be over, I just happily laughed my way through the various silly antics and bad decisions, all the way until the happy ending.

#51 New Recipes: Zucchini Cakes

I'm pretty picky about my vegetables (and well all food), which makes eating healthy kinda hard on me sometimes. I get tired of eating the same food, made the same way over and over again. Which is what makes goal #51 of my Day Zero project kind of exciting, I'm trying out a lot of new ways to make my staple items, one of which is zucchini. Now, normally I saute zucchini with some herbs and sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on it (delicious and healthy!). But I do get tired of the same old, same old and Pinterest has some awesome zucchini recipes that I decided to try out.

I served my zucchini cakes with the Artichoke Crusted Chicken that I tried a few weeks ago. Since the zucchini cakes have bread crumbs in them and the chicken has mayo and cheese, I decided I didn't need any additional carbs. Despite how small this dinner portion looks (I have big plates), it was very filling, not to mention tasty! A little bit of ranch on the zucchini cakes adds to the awesomeness, if not the overall healthiness.

Ingredients:
1 large zucchini grated, excess water removed (Note: To do this, after you grate the zucchini, put the grated zucchini into paper towels and squeeze to release the water)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup panko bread crumbs
sprinkle of ground nutmeg, about 1/8 teaspoon (Note: If you add too much if can quickly take over the taste, less is more)
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 clove garlic, minced
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon olive oil

1. Combine all ingredients, except olive oil, in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Using a heaping tablespoon form the mixture into 8 patties.
2. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Once heated, add patties and cook until golden brown. About 3-4 minutes per side. Serve warm.

Now, those are pretty easy instructions, but it does take a little longer than the length of the instructions hints at. First of all, you have to grate your zucchini:

I did this onto the paper towel, knowing that I would be using it to squeeze out the excess water. You will end up with a rather large pile of grated zucchini.

At this point I realized that it had already leaked water all over the paper towels it was grated onto, so I added a couple extra and then held it over the sink and squeezed all the water out.

It is going to completely soak through your paper towels and turn green all over... I worried that the paper towel might stick to the zucchini and tear and I'd end up eating paper towel bits, but fortunately that didn't happen and it unwrapped really easily despite its balled appearance.

So! Finally we move onto step one: combining all the ingredients.

Because I was using Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs I skipped adding any of the seasonings listed in the recipe. I definitely need to go out and get some unseasoned bread crumbs though, because zucchini doesn't not have a very strong flavor and I think it was definitely over powered by the seasons in the bread crumbs I used. While delicious, I'd still like to try it the way the recipe calls for.

While I was mixing everything together the ingredients seemed dry and flaky and I didn't think they'd hold together very well, but once I actually got my hands in there and tried to make some patties they actually held together quite nicely.

I used Calphalon pans, which heat up and cook much faster than other types of pans, so I ended up keeping the cakes in the pan for only about 2 minutes on each side and they turned a nice golden brown!

I put them onto a paper towel, since they'd been cooking in oil, to soak up any extra oil that they might have left on them.

Chef Hubby was very impressed! He liked them a lot, especially with the artichoke chicken (which is one of his new favorite things for me to make =) It's nice cooking for an appreciative audience!

I'm going to keep looking for new zucchini recipes though, mostly because I feel like this isn't the healthiest zucchini recipe I've ever made - on the other hand if I don't have any other carb in the meal I think this is a pretty good option! Would also make a tasty appetizer.

#51 New Recipes - Bourbon Cream Cheese Brownies

 Bourbon? Cream Cheese? Brownies? By our powers combined... well it's not Captain Planet, but it is delicious!

Not as sweet as I was expecting, to be honest. I might add more sugar next time or some extra semi-sweet chocolate chips in somewhere. On the other hand, if you're into desserts that are chocolate-y and cream cheese-y without being overly sweet, this is freaking perfect. Moist and filling and wonderful!

Ingredients:
4 unsweetened chocolate baking squares
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar (divided)
4 large eggs (divided)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 cup flour
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 cup bourbon

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line bottom and sides of a 9" square pan with foil, allowing 2-3 inches to extend over sides, lightly grease foil
2. Microwave chocolate & butter until melted and smooth, stirring at 30 second intervals.

Whisk in brown sugar and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Add 3 eggs, 1 at a time, whisking just until blended after each addition. Whisk in vanilla, salt & 1 cup flour.

Spread half of batter in prepared pan.

3. Beat cream cheese at medium speed,add 2 tbsp flour and remaining 1/4 cup sugar, beating until blended. Add bourbon and remaining egg, beating until blended.
4. Pour cream cheese mixture over brownie batter in pan, top with remaining brownie batter and swirl together.

5. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until wooded pick comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely in pan on wire rack (about 1 hour). Life from pan, using foil sides as handles.

#99: Try Reading Someone's Nook or Kindle

I have a lot of books. And when I say I have a lot of books, I mean a LOT of books. They do not currently fit on my bookshelves. We currently live in a studio apartment, and it's pretty much overtaken by books. We have 3 tall bookshelves and 3 short ones.

I remember when I first moved out of my parent's house and into a 4 bedroom house with four friends, including KatieSchmatie. She came into my bedroom as I was unpacking, to find me near to frustration with tears, surrounded by piles of books (I had piled them by author) because I couldn't make them fit on the two book shelves that were available to me. With a small sigh and an infinitely patient look in her eyes, she asked me, "Why don't you just double stack them on the shelf? Put the ones you don't read as often behind your favorites."

I looked up at her with woeful eyes and informed her, "I only brought my favorites!"

At which point she burst out laughing at me. Such is the life of a speed-reading bibliophile.

I can't help it that I read ridiculously fast. Or that I love to read and so need a lot of reading material to satisfy my literary desires. But it does put me in something of a quandary, especially when I tire of re-reading my favorites and start to yearn for something new. It's not so much that books are expensive, because I'm perfectly happy scouring the shelves of the local used bookstore, it's that they take up so much damn space.

When Kindles first came out, I scorned them with all the fury of a passionate book-loving old fogey who doesn't want to change. I couldn't imagine reading one... there is nothing like the smell of a new book or an old book, the feel of pages turning in your hands, the hefty weight that you can throw across the room with a satisfying thunk when a cliff-hanger ending pisses you off. None of which you get with a Kindle. But our small studio apartment doesn't have room for any more bookshelves, and there are so many books I want to read.

More than that, there are books that I want to read and only read once. I try to only buy my favorite books, but that leaves me with books that I've read and re-read over and over, unless I venture out to the library with its annoying late fees and limited selection. Not to mention the trouble of finding new favorite authors (and every time I do that my husband growns because their entire works will invariably end up falling off our shelves within a few months of my new discovery) when I don't want to risk buying a book that I won't like and will take up precious space. And I hate getting rid of books.

Enter... a new curiosity about the Kindle. Could this be the answer to all of my problems? Friends and family members who love to read were giving Kindles great reviews. They loved being able to take them on vacation without adding to their suitcase weight, carry any number of different books, and have such easy access to new books and authors. After having to choose which books, from my gigantic collection, to take along on my Honeymoon (couldn't take more... too much weight in the suitcases), only to not be in the mood to read that genre when we got there, the idea of having a Kindle full of different kinds of books was incredibly appealing. Especially when I found out that you can get free books!

Since I was looking for more things to add to my Day Zero project at the time, I decided that I would try reading on someone else's Kindle. About a month after that, even though I hadn't actually tried it, I was pretty sure I wanted one for the convenience of being able to vet new authors without adding to the piles on my shelves and floor, so I added it to my Amazon.com Wish List. Just a regular old Kindle. I don't need the fancy stuff... all I want to do on it is read! I figured I'd go ahead and get it after I tried out reading a page or two one someone else's.

But fate intervened, and my wonderful Mother-in-Law and Step-Father-in-Law saw the Kindle on my wishlist and sent it to me for Christmas. And I'm so glad they did! I'm not a complete convert - I will still buy the books by my favorite authors because I like to have them ready to hand on my shelves - but it's fantastic to have a Kindle. It's so much lighter! It's so much easier! And did I mention FREE books?! I was able to indulge my recent Sherlock Holmes obsession almost completely for free (I spent a total of $4 buying a couple of the novels that weren't available for free). I was able to download the next book that my book club is reading - for FREE! Not to mention a bunch of classics that I've always wanted to read but never wanted to buy - Moby Dick, Crime and Punishment, War and Peace...

Most of the reading that I've done since Christmas (which is a LOT) has been on my new Kindle. It fits handily and lightly into my purse, making it ideal for the metro and traveling, I've already got a ton of books downloaded onto it, and I find I don't mind the lack of touching paper pages too much. I love being able to read new material without having to add yet another book to my teeming collection.

#11, 12 & 15: Let's Talk About Debt, Baby

Let's talk about debt, baby, let's talk about you and me...

Well, really about me. If you've been following along, you may have noticed that I have a whole section for finances on my Day Zero Project List and that a lot of it has to do with either spending less money or paying off more debt.

Money is something I've always had trouble with. I didn't really understand credit cards when I first got one, the day I left for college. I had no idea the kind of trouble I could get into, and eventually did get into. Now, I have even less excuses because I know exactly the kind of trouble I can get into, and yet I ended up using credit cards when I went back to school in fall 2008, mostly for day-to-day living expenses such as food and gas, but that adds up. Sure, I was working my butt off as a server at night, but that's not exactly steady pay, no health insurance and I still had to come up with rent money every month. So I ended school with some school loan debt, some credit card debt and a burning desire to pay it off so that I can use my money for better things. I also wanted a savings account that would be harder for me to get into and might actually have a chance to accumulate because it would be hard for me to touch it even for emergencies.

I thought that making my financial goals part of my Day Zero project might help me to do this.

11. Admit to my Mom how much credit card debt I have and ask if I can transfer it to her 0% interest card to pay it off

12. Pay off all credit card debt

15. Open an ING account and put $15 in it every paycheck

I felt that doing number 11 might help me with number 12. I really didn't want to do number 11. Not just because no one likes to hear their Mother scold them, especially for lessons we should have already learned, but because my parents already helped me out... the first time I got into credit card debt when I first went to college and racked up debt on things like ordering out for pizza, going to movies, and a bunch of other non-essentials. Obviously I'd learned my lesson and my new debt was from actual necessary expenditures, but I still didn't think it would be a pleasant conversation. Plus, I have my pride. I wanted to pay off my debt all by my grown-up self.

Of course, being grown-up doesn't always save me from being dumb. The credit cards I had racked up my new debt on were the same old credit cards that I had made late payments to and ended up with ridiculously high APRs and interest rates. So admitting my debt to my Mom and asking if I could transfer it to one of her cards that she never uses but occasionally offers 0% interest on transferred balances would be incredibly beneficial to me, since all of my cards have an interest rate of over 20%. Yikes! I may be dumb, but I'm not that dumb. I finally admitted to my mom how much in debt I still am and humbly asked for the use of her credit card. Which she generously granted.

I'm lucky that I have such a nice Mom, and I'm well aware of that. A lot of people don't have nice Moms like me. Of course, I have an awesome Dad too, but I didn't really talk about this with him because his name isn't on the credit card and I didn't really want two lectures. I'm sure I'll get it next time I see him though since he's the only one in my immediate family who reads my blog. Oops.

So now I've been working on #12. Pay off all credit card debt for awhile, but now I feel like I really might have a fighting chance to pay it off by the time my 1001 days are up for the Day Zero Project. And that makes me happy. I also feel like I've taken a big step towards being really grown up in asking for help when I needed it and not letting my pride or irritation at at well-deserved scolding in the way. (Well deserved because if I'd been smart I would've closed out all my old accounts and gotten new credit cards with low APRs.)

#15. Open an ING account was the easiest of my financial maneuvers. I got an offer in the mail for $75 deposited if I opened a savings account, and I said, Perfect! So I opened my savings account and set it up to automatically take out $15 every other Friday, on the days that I get my paycheck. Out of sight, out of mind, and I'm feeling pretty responsible! I want to eventually increase the amount heading towards that savings account, but that needs to wait until I've paid off my credit card debt.

I really feel like completing my Day Zero goals has helped me on that road though, and I can't wait till I can cross #12 off my list!

#51 New Recipes - Meatball Bubble Biscuits

What's better than a fluffy, moist, flaky biscuit? A fluffy, moist, flaky biscuit with a meatball and cheese inside!!! Why is it better? Cuz it has CHEESE in it of course! And the meatball is pretty awesome too.

These are super easy, super delicious and a big favorite at a pot-luck I attended a few weeks ago. Reminiscent of monkey bread, they're great for a party, movie night or just a plain old dinner!

Ingredients:
1 can of Pillsbury Grands Jr. Golden layers refrigerated biscuits
10 frozen, pre-cooked, Italian-style meatballs, thawed and cut in half
2 sticks of string cheese cut into 10 pieces each (or you can do what I did and use a block of mozzerella cheese, which means that you can put larger chunks of cheese in than would be possible with string cheese, YUM!)
1 tablespoon Parmesan Cheese
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup marinara sauce, heated (for dipping)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Separate dough into 10 biscuits and split each biscuit in half to make 20 biscuits. Try to keep them flat and round. This is super easy. I pre-cut the meatball halves and mozzerella chunks and then just pulled the biscuits apart and followed the rest of the steps one at a time instead of doing all the biscuit halving at once.
2. Place one meatball half, cut side up, and 1 piece of string cheese (or 2 chunks of chopped mozzerella block for extra cheesy-ness) in the center of each biscuit. Wrap dough around meatball and cheese and press edges together to create a dough ball. Place into 8 or 9 inch round cake pan, seam side down in a single layer.
3. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, italian seasoning and garlic powder (I ignored the measurements and just sprinkled to my heart's delight).
4. Bake 20-25 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown and no longer doughy in the center. Take them out and let them cool for 5 minutes before setting them on the serving plate. Serve warm with warm marinara sauce for dipping. Make sure you grab a few for your own plate immediately if you're at a pot luck.

Enjoy the cheesy, meaty goodness!

Remembering Nonnie

Today my husband and I are headed down to be with his family to celebrate the life of and mourn the passing of his grandfather. This is never an easy time, as the family gathers together, and yet it's always wonderful to see how we all come together to honor the life of someone all of us loved. For the first time I will be meeting my husband's entire family, because even though we've been together for over 5 years, I've never met one of his aunt's. Of course I wish it could have been under other circumstances, but somehow it's often death that brings so many family members together, sometimes for the first time in years or even decades.

Nonnie was a 93 year old World War II veteran who founded a local library with his personal book collection (a man after my own heart!). He had had a very long (obviously) and amazing life that included being among the first of the Allied side to walk through the Concentration Camp at Dachau; his mission being to record everything he saw there. Unfortunately I never got the chance to ask him about this, despite my love of history and my interest in the Holocaust, but two nights ago - after my mother-in-law called to tell us that Nonnie had passed - my husband pulled out his copy of the letter that Nonnie wrote for the Holocaust museum, where it is still on display. I knew that Nonnie had fought in World War II, and that he had written a letter, but I hadn't known until this week that Adam had a copy of it.

I regret not asking Nonnie more about his life during the times that we visited him. We usually talked of books, and he wanted to know what Adam and I were up to, where we were working, how we were doing. He was very involved in the present, rather than the in the past, and you would never have guessed from looking at this kindly, amiable, cheerful grandfather that he had a collection of old weaponry from his days as a soldier, some of them weapons taken off of the enemy who tried to kill him.

What I remember best about Nonnie is not actually a visit, it's the small welcoming speech that he gave me over the phone this past Thanksgiving, when he told me how thankful he was that Adam found me and that I am now a part of the family. I did not know that would be the last time I would get the chance to speak with him, but if I had I don't think there are any better last words that we could have had with each other. It touched me, how warmly welcoming both he and Granny Sarah were to me, how they included me in the things that they were thankful for this past year, and our last words were of love, family and welcome. And that's the biggest legacy that Nonnie leaves behind, his children and grandchildren, the great and wonderful family that he lavished his love and affection on through the long years of his life. I truly feel that his kindness and generosity of spirit will be with us as we gather to honor him.

#45 New Years Eve Dinner Cruise

I have been wanting to go on one of the Potomac River Dinner cruises for years now. I've also been wanting to go "out" on New Years Eve for years - and by out I meant somewhere other than a friend's house (as much fun as those parties are, I'd always wondered what it would be like to be out at a hotel or something). Well, in November I decided to check out the dinner cruises online, and on the Odyssey's website I found out that they host a New Years Eve dinner cruise with a live band, 3 course meal, top shelf open bar, etc. It sounded absolutely perfect, and the best part was the early bird special price if we bought our tickets in November!

Normally New Years Eve is a big "friend" occasion for me, I've never had what I would really consider a "romantic" New Years Eve (especially because Chef Hubby is usually working on NYE). I did invite our friends along, but unfortunately no one was able to join us (and to be honest, we wouldn't have been able to go if it hadn't been for the generosity of a wedding gift). Still, even though this was going to be my first year celebrating NYE without my friends, I was excited. Chef Hubby and I would have a romantic NYE, our first one as a married couple, alone together.

Well, it might not have been everything I dreamed of and more, but it was a heck of a lot of fun. Sure, the table spacing was a little cramped, and it took us more than half an hour to get our first drinks, but DC is beautiful at night, especially with Christmas lights on so many of the buildings, the food was delicious and the first drink order was the only one we had a long wait for. The top shelf open bar was more than worth it, best French Martinis I've ever had! One time they even brought me two at once!

It was a lot of fun to dress up and go out and be seen. I got several compliments on my dress from complete strangers. The other nice thing was the feeling of togetherness, despite the fact that I was celebrating my first NYE without friends by my side, there was definitely a feeling of "We're all in this together" on the ship. The people in our dining room joked with the tables next to them, toasted strangers at midnight, took pictures of each other's antics, and even coaxed each other into silly dancing off the dance floor! It was fun to watch and fantastic to be a part of, a small reminder of how people can come together for a night of camraderie, despite the fact that we'll probably never see each other again.

For appetizers I had Mixed Greens with Candied Pecans, Strawberries, Apples and Raspberry Vinaigrette and Chef Hubby had  Duck Confit, Forest Mushrooms, Sage and Monterrey Jack Cheese baked in a Puffed Pastry, served over Spaghetti Squash, with Dried Cherries, Candied Pecans and drizzle of Marsala Wine Demi-glace . Dinner, for me, Braised Beef Short Ribs marinated in a Shallot and Wild Mushroom Gravy, served with Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Puff Pastry and crispy Onion Straws and, for him, Pan-seared fresh Salmon fillet marinated in spicy Chimichurri Sauce, served over a fried mashed Yucca Cake, topped with a sweet Corn Posole and crispy Corn Tortilla Strips. In other words, freaking delicious.

Dessert they had a table set up with a giant chocolate fountain, into which I dipped many cream puffs, rice krispie treats and strawberries.

We walked the deck, fortunately it wasn't too cold outside - also, the ship thoughtfully provided hot air blowing out into a couple places. It was absolutely beautiful to watch nighttime DC slide by us:

A little before midnight they provided us with champagne for a toast:

We spent a good portion of our time on the dance floor. It was a pretty mixed crowd, and there were some really impressive dancers and some people who were just there to have fun. We fell somewhere in the middle.

The boat came back into the dock a little after midnight, although you could stay on and keep partying till 1am. Since Chef Hubby had work the next morning (or, well, later that morning) we left around 12:30.

It was a wonderful time and I'm glad we did it. Although it has definitely left me with cruise nostalgia yet again...

New Years Resolutions

New Years Day is always about resolutions. What do I want to accomplish this year? What do I want to look back on? How do I want to feel when I look back on this year?

New Years Resolutions are rarely met. Often we set ourselves up for failure.

We expect too much of ourselves - "I will lose 30 pounds this year!"

We try to make too many changes all at once - "I will stop drinking, smoking, partying and become a vegan!"

We're too vague - "I will become healthier this year!"

I'm certainly guilty of this. I'll say how much weight I want to lose, instead of focusing on HOW to lose the weight - Resolving to go to the gym at least 2 times a week every week is a much less daunting and yet much more achievable goal than losing 30 pounds, which makes it more likely that I will meet that goal and that I will lose weight in the process.

We need to creat goals that are S.M.A.R.T. <--- Gotta love that acronym =)

S: Specific
M: Measurable
A: Attainable
R: Realistic
T: Timely

Saying: "I will be healthier!" isn't specific or measurable. How will you know if you're actually being healthier? How will you track it? In what way will you know that you've achieved your goal? Saying, "I will eat three servings of vegetables a day" or "I will eat red meat only once a week" or "I will run 1 mile once a week" - these are specific and measurable. You know exactly what you're supposed to do, they're easy to keep track of, and you can feel good about checking them off on a day to day basis, which means that they're more likely to get done.

Making too many changes all at once usually means that the goal isn't attainable or realistic, mostly because it's not one goal, it's many. Quitting smoking, quitting drinking, and becoming vegan are all specific and even measurable, however they're also multiple goals. And trying to quit so many things at once is overwhelming, especially because they would invovle some major lifestyle changes.

So this year I'm going to make a S.M.A.R.T. resolution. I've involved in the Day Zero Project, attempting to complete 101 Tasks in 1001 Days, so my New Years Resolution is that in 2012, I'm going to have 35 tasks completed from my list, which is a little more than 1/3 of my list.

To this end, I've gone through my 101 Tasks and highlighted in yellow all the tasks that I think I can complete by the end of 2012. You might notice that they number more than 35, and if I can complete more than I've resolved to... well that just makes this an extra good year! Considering that I think all the tasks on my list should be enjoyable, and I will have a lot of fun accomplishing them, I'm looking forward to a very good year indeed!